Concepts of Caring and Caring as a Concept

Abstract

This chapter discusses the various conceptualizations of caring and explores the adequacies and inadequacies of these conceptualizations. It evaluates the applicability of caring as a concept to the practice of nursing and identifies trends and gaps in caring research. Examination of the concept of caring resulted in the identification of the following five epistemological perspectives: caring as a human state, caring as a moral imperative or ideal, caring as an affect, caring as an interpersonal relationship, and caring as a nursing intervention. The two outcomes that were identified were caring as the subjective experience of the patient and caring as a physical response. The decision to classify a definition was based on the theorist’s epistemological perspective. The chapter concludes that knowledge development related to caring in nursing is limited by the lack of refinement of caring theory.